Frigate Admiral Gorshkov Starts Trials in November

08.10.2012 Project 22350 frigate Admiral Gorshkov, the first Russian naval ship made of carbon composite will start sea trials in the Barents Sea no later than in Nov 2012, reports Izvestiya referring to a source in Russian Navy Main HQ.

The ship will join Northern Fleet (NF) 14-th Antisubmarine Ship Brigade. Admiral Gorshkov is built under stealth technology; deck erection is made of composite materials absorbing or partially conducting radio waves which ensures "invisibility" to enemy radars.

"Since 1987, it is the first large-size ship fully designed and built by Russian manufacturers including Severnaya Verf shipyard in St. Petersburg. Project 22350 stealth frigates will shift large ASW ships known in NATO as Udaloy class", said the Russian Navy's staff officer.

Recall that the Navy command earlier declared frigate Admiral Gorshkov would be commissioned in 2012. The ship's delivery to Russian Navy was once postponed in 2011.

Frigate Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Gorshkov was laid down at Severnaya Verf shipyard in 2006 and put afloat on Nov 29, 2010 in St. Petersburg.

Project 22350 frigates are designed for warfare in littoral and sea zones. Displacement is about 4,500 tons; length overall is 130 meters; beam overall is 16 meters; cruising range is over 4,000 miles; navigability is unlimited. Frigate of this class accommodates one ship-borne helicopter.

The ship was named after outstanding military leader and naval art ideologist Admiral Sergei G. Gorshkov who led foundation of Soviet ocean-going nuclear missile fleet. It was he who headed Soviet Navy when over 1,000 warships became the key foreign policy tool.